A Taste of the Wild
Chapter One One, Two, Three ''Hero counted his pawsteps as he retraced his steps out of the house. It was extremely necessary to avoid his housefolk. Because his housefolk was . . . well . . . ''Slam! ''The door opened and His twoleg climbed out. He was angry all the time, but this time he was holding a strange cylinder in his hand that narrowed at the top, filled with a peculiar purple liquid. The twoleg yelled something, in a frighteningly calm voice. Hero waited. All of a sudden the twoleg burst into savage yelling. He threw the object. It hit Hero and the glass pierced his fur. Too shocked to mewl, Hero stared, shocked at his twoleg, who casually walked back inside. Blood welling on his flank, Hero's vision blurred, and he collpased. When he woke, Hero was being attended to by his best friend, a loner named Pebble who dropped in from time to time. Her eyes shone with worry. "Oh whisker, I found you like this and pulled out the glass but you won't stop bleeding, I'm sorry-" Hero raised his tail and shuddered in pain. "That's-okay." he gasped. "You did the best you could." Then Hero's eyes closed again, and he dreamed. He was in a clearing and 9 cats emerged. Hero stood up and frowned. He no longer hurt. Turning his attention to the cats, he saw that their fur was flecked with starlight, and their eyes glimmered with a thousand years of wisdom. "We have seen your suffering," they said in one voice "And we have come to relieve it. We have a way. One that has not been attempted in this place for ages." "Wh-what?" Hero could barely get the question out. "All in good time," they chided. "But first you must become more than Hero. You must be a lion." "Who-who are you." "We are StarClan." Chapter Two Pebble waited urgently for Hero to wake up. She paced back and forth, chewing half-heartedly on a bit of vole. C'mon, C'mon . . . she thought ugently. All of a sudden, Hero began to stir. "Glade . . ." he murmured. "Glade." "What?" Pebble said. "Hero wake up!" Hero's eyes opened, but with a new light. "Not Hero," he said confidently. "Lionstar." Pebble quickly learned to deal with her new friend. He never explained the change of name, just quietly went on with his recovery. One moon later, when he was at his strongest, Lionstar asked Pebble, "Do you trust me?" Without hesitation, Pebble said. "Of course!" Determination glinted in Lionstar's emerald eyes. "Then follow me.' That was the beginning of the journey. Pebble followed Lionstar through the cold marshes north. they journeyed on, never hungry, never full. Pebble never bothered to ask where they were going, she was too busy keeping them full. Lionstar was so forgetful these days, he would probably die of hunger without her. After three moons trudging through unknown territory, they rested in a forest. Making camp in a small glade, they stayed up later that night. Finally, Pebble said "Lionstar? Shouldn't we go rest now?" "No" he said softly, never taking his eyes off the sky. Five minutes later a shooting star appeared. Pebble watched in wonder as it slowly descended the sky, finally touching the ground miles away. "Yes," lionstar murmured. "This is the place." Pebble was sick and tired of being ignored. "Okay, Whiskerbrain, I've put up with this long enough. What in the Litterbox are you talking about." When Lionstar turned to her, his eyes glittered with amusement. "Pebble," he siad, "I should probably tell you everything." A Clan of cats, dedicated to keeping each other alive. And lionstar chosen to lead it. It seemed impossible. "For some reason, I now know exactly what to do," he said. "For example, my name has to end with 'star' because I'm the Clan leader. You can have any ending, as your my deputy." "I'm your what?" Pebble said. "My deputy. Second in command, becomes leader after my death, in charge of patrols . . ." "Okay! Okay already!" Pebble's head spun. Their eyes connected, and Pebble finally saw the old Lionstar in there, the lost kittypet, maimed by the one he trusted. "I . . . Pebble do you think we can do this?" he said softly. Pebble thought for a second. All her doubts . . . all her worries . . . they all seemed mouse-brained laying here, by her best friend. "Yes." Pebble said. Chapter Three Three sunrises later, Lionstar watched Pebbledream begin to clear the Camp. He had asked her to go hunting with him, but she had insisted that she stay. "You hunt, Lionstar." she said. "I'll set this up the best. Your head is in the stars. Mines still down here on Earth." There was a trace of regret in her voice, and Lionstar knew she felt alienated from him. This was not the first time Lionstar had wanted to kill StarClan for condemning them. Lionstarraced through the woods. Had he been wrong after all? They had no warriors, Elders, Medicine Cats, kits . . . not even one apprentice! Or Had he failed them? Was StarClan angry with him? "Snnf" Lionstar halted as a dellicous scent wated through his muzzle. Following it he arrived at a bush filled with tantalizing purple berries. A snack couldn't hurt. Closing his eyes, Lionstar opened his mouth wide and began to close around a branch. "Don't!" a panicked voice said, and somebody tackled Lionstar from behind. Reacting instantly, Lionstar kicked his opponent off, and stood facing her, snarling. "Wait!" a silver she-cat said. "You've got it all-" Lionstar leaped at her, and she rolled out of the way. Lionstar growled, to startled and angry at being cheated out of his snack to notice she was only fighting defensively. "Listen!" she mewed, letting him tackle her. "I just saved you. Those were Deathberries. They cause instant death to their victim!" Lionstar relaxed his grip slightly. "Really?" he said in his most challenging voice. "Really, mousebrain." said Pebbledream from behind him. Lionstar whirled around to see his friend. She had been in the wild longer, so it made sense she'd know that berry . . . "Mouse dung!" he muttered. "I'm sorry about my friend here," Pebbledream said. "He's not used to ther cats." Lionstar knew she wasn't talking about this she-cat. The she-cat relaxed. "Its fine. I shouldn't have tackled you. I kind of freaked out. So what are you doing around here?" Lionstar opened his mouth to respond, but closed it as Pebbledream continued talking. "Long story. But first things first- whats your name?" Moonfrond loved the idea of GladeClan. After saving Lionstar, he had taken her to their camp where she had learned everything, and was faced with a chouce. Live to live, or live so that others may live. Moonfrond picked the latter, naturally. She loved being a medicine cat. The very first nuight she had met with StarClan, and was astounded to see her parents there, and others. That gave her hope. And for Moonfrond, hope was strength. But then, there was the prophecy. Moonfrond squeezed her eyes shut, trying to forget it. ''Look, I'll tell Lionstar next moon okay? Just not now. Not . . . Now. Within the Season, GladeClan floursihed. Despite their initial lack of cats, Moonfrond found an abandoned Queen named Cloudywish, who settled in rather well. (More or less.). That same moon, Pebbledream was patroling the boundaries. It was a cludless, frigid night, and Pebbledream could not stop herself from shivering. "So its true . . ." a tom's voice said behind her. Pebbledream whirled around. There stood a slightly reddish tom with green eyes. He regarded her with amazement. "All those dreams about a Clan . . . and you . . . are true." Pebbledream frowned. "Wait . . . what?" The tom shivered. "Sorry, I must sound insane. My names Cedar, and I followed the stars here. I think I know who you are . . .Pebbledream?" Pebbledream only raised her hackles. Cedar didn't seem to notice. "So . . . um . . . you recruiting? Becuase I kind of want to be a warrior." Chapter Four Lionstar wasn't sure how he felt about Cedarleaf. A new warrior, sure, and another step closer to StarClan's wishes . . . but . . . Pebbledream had warmed up to him rather fast. Stop, ''he thought ''Just stop. Its- its not meant to-'' "Lionstar!" a voice called through the clearing. Lionstar looked up abruptly to see Cedarleaf pounding through the trees. "Yes?" Lionstar asked, steping away from a snake that crawled out of the basking rocks. "We've found two more cats!" Cedarleaf said excitedly. Lionstar frowned. Maybe that should've been a good thing, but it felt like, considering its slow start, GladeClan was growing way to fast. "Great," he said warily. "I'll meet them once I finish surveying our territory." 'Yes, Lionstar" Cedarleaf nodded and scurried back. "You shouldn't be jealous you know," said a voice and Lionstar whirled around as if he was surrounded by a herd of angry badgers. Moonfrond stepped from the shadows eyes like small pools of water; Clear, yet wise. Humorous, yet serious. "I-I'm not-" Lionstar stammered, surprised by the medicine cats sudden appearance. "Yes, you are." Moonfrond stepped forward. 'Pebbledream is ''happy. Why aren't you?" "I-I just didn't mean to-" "It wasn't Lionstar she thought she loved, it was Hero. And if you ever loved her you'd be happy for her right now." Lionstar squeezed his eyes shut. 'I am...yet...I'm not..." When Lionstar opned his eyes he saw that Moonfrond's eyes glimmered with gentleness. "She loves you like a sister, Lionstar. But she'll never love you that way." As soon as Lionstar heard it, he knew it was true. There ws no one Lionstar and Pebbledream trusted more than each other, and would die for each other, but not as mates. Lionstar felt a tear well in his right eye. Never. Chapter Five Silence. No one stirred in the Camp despite everything. It had been a moon since Shadowfur and Rosefall arrived, and slightly less since Moonfur had found herself there. Everything was going fine. Pebbledream emerged from her den, stifling a yawn. Category:GladeClan Chronicles